Tournament Reports - Pokémon TCG Pocket Week 25

The penultimate week of the Shining Revelry format further cements the metagame around Darkrai ex with Giratina ex. Did players manage to find a proper answer to the dark menace? We’re going to analyse the two biggest tournaments of the week: the FrogEX Weekly Cup on Thursday/Tuesday and Ursiiday’s Pocket Weekly on Saturday/Sunday.

FrogEX Weekly Cup #15

Player count: 272 players

Prize pool: $50

Darkrai ex’s presence becomes even more pronounced this week, with nearly a third of the field playing the top tier deck.

Unsurprisingly, the archetype dominated once again, with three Darkrai ex decks in the top 4 and another strong conversion performance from Gyarados ex, which landed three decks in the top 8. The biggest surprise in the top cut was TheDoC’s Gallade ex list:

Gallade ex was a mainstay in the previous format thanks to its type advantage against Arceus ex, but it has struggled in the current one. Basic Pokémon with low HP are easy targets for Darkrai ex’s Nightmare Aura and Dark Prism. And although Gallade ex can one-shot a functioning Giratina ex, it also gets one-shot in return with Red or Nightmare Aura because of the weakness. The lack of backup threats outside the Stage 2 Gallade ex makes the deck feel inconsistent compared to the Basic-only Pokémon lineup of Darkrai ex Giratina. TheDoC ran 2 Iono to improve the odds of evolving Gallade ex on curve, a trade-off that boosts consistency but cost card advantage.

His run tells the story: he swept all five decks he faced but lost to all three Darkrai Giratina decks, the last loss dealt by SquaredPiano, the winner of this tournament:

SquaredPiano beat NymphNoctis in a mirror match finals. The only difference between their lists was a second Mars over a second Rocky Helmet. Mars punishes big Basic decks packed with Supporters that tends to stick to the hand, and can flip a game after one of your ex attackers is KO’d.

Ursiiday's Pocket Weekly #24

Player count: 681 players

Prize pool: $400 (sponsored by XPCollect)

Darkrai ex didn't hold back. With just over a third of the field, it took over more than two third of the top 64, and six out of eight top spots. Unsurprisingly, it also won the entire event.

Fryrish19 brought a streamlined list featuring two Rocky Helmet, which is brutal in the mirror: Giant Cape won’t save your Pokémon from a revenge KO with Giratina ex after a Rocky Helmet + Nightmare Aura sequence. Notably, Bixie, winner of the last two Ursiiday Weeklies, made top 8 again, confirming that there's definitely skills in piloting the deck properly.

The only decks able to compete at this level were decks. eriikloopezz made it to the finals with Gyarados ex, but the biggest standout was shu0802’s deck:

Bringing back a Pokémon ex straight from Genetic Apex that's never had its big moment, the Blastoise ex archetype benefits from Manaphy’s Energy support, an aggressive Squirtle line (unlike the slower Magikarp line), and a stage 2 Blastoise ex that reliably attacks on curve, with high HP and access to healing through Irida. Not only it defensively withstands Nightmare Aura + Chaotic Impact, but offensively applies early pressure, with a backup "auto-win" option in a fully charged Hydro Bazooka.

There are two main orientations in the gameplay:

• Starting with Squirtle: Going first, the Surf → Hydro Bazooka sequence can KO a Darkrai ex. Going second, Squirtle and Wartortle deal 60 before Blastoise adds 100, enough to take out Giratina ex as well. In comparison, Gyarados ex can’t match this early aggression, having to evolve and get to 4 Energy to finally dish out damage.
• Starting with Manaphy: Darkrai Giratina notoriously struggles with Manaphy. While they deal with it, Oceanic Gift has time to fully charge a Blastoise ex. From there, Hydro Bazooka one-shots both Darkrai ex (even through Giant Cape) and Giratina ex. That’s something Gyarados can’t claim either.

To maximise the consistency of the deck and evolve the Squirtle line on curve, 1 of Iono and Pokémon Communication are included in the list.

shu0802 was one of the only two players to be undefeated in swiss rounds, his only loss being in the top 8 against xDeSTi's Darkrai ex Giratina deck, after taking over 4 of these decks in the swiss rounds. This impressive performance might inspire players to try this deck and see if it can confirm its apparent DarkTina killer tag.

Where Is the Shining Revelry metagame at?

Darkrai ex’s grip on the metagame is tighter than ever, drawing comparisons to the infamous Space-Time Smackdown format, where Darkzone reigned supreme, challenged only by the equally infamous Exeggutor ex. This week again, its conversion rates to the top cut (and especially the top 8) are exceptionally high. The only silver lining compared to the STS era is a somewhat more interesting mirror match, assuming both players start on equal footing.

In this sea of Darkrai ex decks, only decks seem to hold their ground. The support density for Water types is higher than for any other, with Energy acceleration from both Manaphy and Misty helping them match the raw power level of Darkrai ex–or any metagame, for that matter. Blastoise ex may gain traction thanks to shu0802's performance, but like Meowscarada decks, it may fall victim to the inconsistency of relying on a Stage 2.

Until the set A3drops on April 30, a meta shift seems unlikely given Darkrai ex’s raw efficiency and consistency.